My weekly opinions, observations and rants about some Canadian baseball stories:

 Two words that Adam Lind has grown to dread are high fastball. He just can’t seem to lay off the high heat. I remember reading a story of how Branch Rickey sent a young Duke Snider to the minors and made him stand in a batting cage and take pitches for hours until Snider learned the strike zone. I’m not suggesting the Jays ship Lind to the minors, but this type of exercise might benefit him.

 Was that really Fred Lewis in centre field last night against the Red Sox? Is Cito Gaston watching the same player as the rest of us? Yes, Lewis has been a pleasant surprise for the Jays offensively, but his fielding has been less than stellar. In my view, of the five outfielders (Lewis, Wise, Bautista, Snider, Lind) Cito had available, Lewis is the third-best centre field option behind Wise and Bautista.

 I used to feel proud that Roberto Alomar would be the first player to go into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with a Blue Jays cap on his plaque. With the recent allegations swirling around him, I’m starting to hope he goes in as an Oriole or Indian.

 As critical as I’ve been of the Washington Nationals and their disregard of Montreal Expos history, it was nice to see them add Andre Dawson and Gary Carter to their new “Hall of Fame Ring of Honor” on Tuesday.

 I had the pleasure of interviewing two intelligent, inspirational former Canadian big leaguers, Jason Dickson and Derek Aucoin, over the past couple of weeks. Watch for my articles on these two fine Canucks on Bob Elliott’s great site http://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com

 Yes, the Brett Wallach that was dealt to the Cubs as part of the package for Ted Lilly is the son of Expos great Tim Wallach. Unlike his dad who was a Gold Glove third basemen, however, the younger Wallach is 21-year-old right-handed pitcher who was 6-0 in Single A for the Cubs. The senior Wallach, who suited up for more games with the Montreal Expos than any other player, is currently managing the Dodgers’ Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.

 Here’s my theory on why Cito Gaston is hitting Travis Snider in the leadoff spot: if Snider hits first approximately 30 more times and you add that to the number of games he has hit ninth, Snider averages out to a middle-of-the-order guy. The part of the order he should be hitting in for the entire season.